And he also will have a chance to follow good buddy Tony La Russa’s lead.

Jim Leyland is under contract through only this season. The Detroit Tigers' GM says the decision whether to return will be Leyland's. (AP Photo)

Just days after winning the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals last year, La Russa announced his retirement. And there is speculation that Leyland might follow that same path.

Leyland’s job status has been a story line for a while, dating back to the final few weeks of the regular season when the Tigers were struggling and Leyland supposedly was managing to save his job. He is under contract only through this season.

After managing the Tigers to the World Series, Leyland’s future now is in his own hands.

"Jim Leyland is welcome back here and he knows that," general manager Dave Dombrowski told The Detroit News. "He's in a situation where we want him back and I'm sure that he wants to come back—and I would think that would be the way."

Dombrowski added that there will be no contract negotiations until after the World Series.

Leyland is 1,676-1,659 in 21 seasons a major league manager. He won the 1997 World Series with the then-Florida Marlins and also managed the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies. He has managed the Tigers since the 2006 season, when they lost to the Cardinals in the World Series.